The dental tools, such as the burrs and brushes (files) of high speed and/or low speed dental drill or handpieces, are in wide use, and a dentist will commonly use the same dental tool especially the burrs and brushes for performing several dental operations on different patients in a short period of time. There is a need for a convenient, economical and effective apparatus/devices to help the dentist and his or her staff to clean (and later to sanitize) the tools between operations on patients. Furthermore, a routine is needed that would help to insure that all portions of a burrs and files, which have been exposed to one patient's mouth, are cleaned of the remained tooth material on the tool prior to sanitize and use with other patients. Such additional procedure would provide one more safeguard against the spread of disease.
The various types of the devices for cleaning of the dental removable tool are well known.
For example, the apparatus by U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,248 provides the cleaning and/or lubrication of the medical/dental tool. This apparatus for cleaning dental tools includes an instrument connection for blowing oil and/or cleaning agent, possibly in the form of a spray mist, through the instruments and subsequently drying the instruments with compressed air. The control of the various cleaning phases and of the conveyance of the cleaning liquids takes place pneumatically. In particular, a short-term flow of compressed air displaces at least one piston against a spring which causes oil and/or cleaning agent to be pressed into the instrument. A control edge of the piston produces a connection between the compressed air supply and the instrument connection when the piston leaves its upper position of rest. When the piston travels back in the opposite direction under the force of the spring after the short-term flow of compressed air has ended, the supply of oil and/or cleaning agent to the instrument connection is interrupted, while the supply of compressed air is maintained until the piston has again reached its upper position of rest. In the mentioned apparatus an external compressed air is supplied to the apparatus and reaches a tee in which a pressure reduction and/or a purification by means of an inserted filter may be carried out. The compressed air reaches from the tee through a line to an actuating button which starts the cleaning procedure when being pressed down. When the button is pressed downwardly against the force of a spring, the supply of compressed air and the continuing line are connected to each other for a relatively short time, so that compressed air is conducted from the tee through the actuating button to the head of a regulating unit. A piston is provided in the interior of the regulating unit. A spring presses the piston upwardly against the head of the regulating unit. When compressed air is admitted to the regulating unit, the piston is pressed downwardly against the force of the spring, and the piston rod, constructed as a double piston, presses oil into the line and cleaning agent into the line. A return flow of the two fluids into the lines is prevented by check valves in the cleaning agent line and by two analogous check valves in the oil line.
Such apparatus is complex and expensive.
Another apparatus by U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,112 also provides the cleaning and/or lubricating of the medical/dental tool, i.e. the care of dental instruments which is connectable at its inlet to a pressurized gas source and at its outlet to the inlet sleeve of the dental instrument to be serviced, which hand tool is provided with at least one container for receiving the agent and connected to the pressurized gas line leading form the inlet to the outlet of the hand tool. The apparatus permits a troublefree metering in of even highly viscous agents for the care of the instrument and the dispensing of various amounts of the agents. This is achieved by providing a pressure control valve from which a pressurized gas line leads to the outlet of the hand tool downstream of the inlet of the hand tool and by providing at least one pump for conveying the agent, the intake line of the pump being connected with the at least one container for receiving the agent and the pressure line being connected with the pressurized gas line leading to the outlet of the hand tool in a site downstream of the pressure control valve and upstream of the outlet of the hand tool. The apparatus includes a pressurized gas source, preferably the dental unit provided in each dental practice, is connected at the inlet of the hand tool. The tool is plugged onto the turbine tube in place of the turbine angle piece by means of the provided quick-turn coupling, if no such coupling is provided, it is screwed onto the thread of the tube. On actuating the foot pedal of the dental unit, namely on turning on the turbine angle piece not present now, air is introduced into the hand tool with the flow pressure adjusted for the turbine of normally about bar. A pressure control (safety) valve reduces this pressure to about bar without subjecting the tubes of the dental unit to stress. The compressed air is now further conveyed through the pressurized gas line to the outlet where turbine angle pieces and tool holders and angle pieces of the most diverse kinds (not represented), termed dental instruments for short in the following, can be plugged on by means of exchangeable and sealing adapters, for instance the elastic connecting sleeves. The apparatus also comprises two storage containers for cleaning (disinfecting) and lubricating agents from which these cleaning and lubricating agents, called agents for short in the following, are sucked via intake lines by means of two manually actuated reciprocating pumps and can be injected under pressure independently of one another into the pressurized gas line, so that the pressurized gas charges the agents into the dental instrument plugged on. For this purpose, the pressure line emanates from each pump and terminates together with the pressurized gas line in a metering or mixing chamber disposed in flowing direction upstream of the outlet, etc.
This apparatus requires the pump presence and has the same deficiency as the above described apparatus, i.e. such apparatus is complex and expensive.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,218 provides the cleaning of the dental tool in a washing container filled with liquid, particularly water, using the ultrasonic effect. The device comprises a pot-shaped washing container with a multiplicity of mountings in the interior of the container each for one tool holder/handpiece (tooth drill), a water supply system, with which water can be supplied to the washing container and can also be lead from it, a compressed air supply system, a care agent supply system and an ultrasonic cleaning device, of which only one ultrasonic transducer for applying ultrasound to the washing container is illustrated. The washing container has a supply and discharge line, which is part of the water supply system, and with a water outlet. The following are arranged downstream of each other in the direction of flow, in the water supply line which is connected to a water connection: a first solenoid valve, a pump, a softening device and a condenser. The softening device is connected directly to the water outlet by means of a discharge line in which two solenoid valves are arranged one behind the other, so that the waste water can be directly discharged into the water outlet. Also, device includes the compressed air supply system having five compressed air lines connected in parallel, an electrically powered air heater, etc.
Such apparatus does not provide the cleaning of the dental burrs and brushes and is used for the handpiece and mostly drills cleaning.
Thus, there is a great need in the art for the improved dental (medical) tool cleaning apparatus, providing convenient, economical and effective cleaning of the dental tool (e.g. burrs and files/brushes) exposed to one patient's mouth of the remained tooth material on the tool between operations on patients, thereby providing a safeguard against the spread of disease.